Stefan Kanfer > Quotes

“FOLKSBIENE, an impoverished, frail Yiddish theater company in constant danger of annihilation, had outlasted all the giants. The year of Schwartz's death the little troupe moved into the Forward building, guaranteeing it a permanent home with four walls and a roof, plus heat in the winter, fans in the summer, and best of all, continuing subsidies from the newspaper and the Workmen's Circle. Sporadically, other Yiddish productions would take place in New York, but they were one-shots, musicals, and charity fund-raisers. Ensconced in their new place, Folksbiene managers claimed that theirs was the oldest continuously operating Yiddish theater in the world. As proof, all past productions were listed year by year, ranging all the way back to 1915. It was an impressive roster. Among the authors included were Sholem Aleichem, Leon Kobrin, and both Singer brothers, Israel Joshua and Isaac Bashevis; also the Russians Alexander Pushkin and Maxim Gorki; and such American authors as Theodore Dreiser, Eugene O'Neill, Sherwood Anderson, and Clifford Odets. It didn't matter how well attended those shows were, or how well acted, or the duration of their runs. The point was that the Folksbiene had survived, just as the Jewish people had survived. Together, they were the keepers of the flame. It was a very small candle in a very big city.”
― Stefan Kanfer, Stardust Lost: The Triumph, Tragedy, and Meshugas of the Yiddish Theater in America

“Marlon’s worldly possessions went up for auction at Christie’s New York showroom a year after his death. Among the 320 objects were some knickknacks (Marlon preferred the Yiddish word chotchkes).”
― Stefan Kanfer, Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando

“The American Film Institute ranked him as the Greatest Male Star in cinema history. The honors were only beginning. In 1997 Entertainment Weekly designated Humphrey the Number One Movie Legend of all time. That year the United States Postal Service issued a stamp bearing his liken”
― Stefan Kanfer, Tough Without a Gun

“You know, it's a peculiar thing. At funerals one's inclined to laugh; and at weddings, weep.”
― Stefan Kanfer, Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball

“In the early 1950s the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, tried something old. Like many another venue for productions of Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Shaw, the Brattle had become a film house in the early 1950s. But it was a film house unlike any other. It had a rear-screen projector, rather than the standard setup that beamed movies on a screen above the audience. And it had owners who believed that the past could be more alluring than the present.”
― Stefan Kanfer, Tough Without a Gun